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UNCLAS TOKYO 000135 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR, 
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM; 
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI; 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA; 
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE; 
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - NEW US IRAQ POLICY - TOKYO 
 
 
LEAD STORIES: Friday morning's moderate Tokyo Shimbun 
front-paged a press conference Thursday by Secretary of 
State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates at the White 
House. The daily said that Gates, referring to the new US 
Iraq policy, disclosed that he proposed to President Bush 
that the Army bolster its ranks by 65,000 and the Marines 
by 27,000 over the next five years to deal with a 
prolonged fight against terrorism. 
 
¶1. "Is New US Iraq Policy a Turning Point?" The top- 
circulation, moderate Yomiuri editorialized (1/12): 
"...President Bush announced a new Iraq policy, which 
calls for the deployment of an additional 21,500 troops. 
The question is whether this new plan will actually work, 
as the situation in Iraq is deteriorating rapidly. More 
than 23,000 Iraqis lost their lives in 2006 to sectarian 
violence, with nearly 80 percent of those deaths 
occurring in the latter half of the year. The US military 
death toll has also climbed past 3,000 since the start of 
the war. The new Iraq policy was presented as a remedy to 
this difficult situation.... The latest opinion poll in 
the US showed that 61 percent of Americans oppose sending 
additional troops, while only 36 percent approve.... Amid 
these unfavorable conditions, the president will have to 
prove that the new plan will be effective." 
 
¶2. "New US Iraq Policy Fraught with Uncertainties" An 
editorial in the business-oriented Nihon Keizai commented 
(1/12): "President Bush has announced his new Iraq 
policy. While the new policy calls for the dispatch of 
more than 20,000 additional US troops to improve Iraq's 
security, it also seeks to have the Iraqi government take 
the lead, with Bush saying that 'America's commitment is 
not open-ended.'... Although the president wanted to show 
Americans light at the end of the tunnel, no one has been 
able to come up with a means of breaking the deadlock in 
Iraq. Most of the goals spelled out in the new policy are 
simply targets for efforts to be made. The new Iraq 
policy is fraught with dilemmas and uncertainties." 
 
¶3. "Dispatch of Additional Troops a Dangerous Gamble" The 
liberal Asahi editorialized (1/12): "President Bush's 
live TV address was reminiscent of the speech made by 
then President Nixon announcing a plan to escalate the US 
military commitment to bring an end to the quagmire that 
was the Vietnam War. Bush acknowledged mistakes in the 
Iraq war, saying: 'Where mistakes have been made, the 
responsibility rests with me.' Nonetheless, he disclosed 
plans to send more than 20,000 additional troops to 
bolster the 130,000 already in Iraq and did not touch on 
the timing of a withdrawal.... We regard the troop surge 
as a dangerous gamble. The White House has so far sent 
additional troops to Iraq on three occasions, each time 
proving unsuccessful. The president would like to say 
that this is America's last chance. But the past four 
years should have made clear that Iraq cannot be 
reconstructed via military force alone. In some respects, 
the US military presence itself is behind the 
deteriorating situation.... The US was forced into a 
shameful withdrawal from Vietnam. Will the same thing 
happen again in Iraq?" 
 
DONOVAN